Antonio McKee re-signs with MFC as lightweight champion, will defend title against Brian Cobb at MFC 31 on Oct. 14

Remember when Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) vacated Antonio McKee's title after he suffered a knee injury earlier this year? Yeah, you can forget about all that.

That's because "Mandingo" has apparently done enough to convince the promotion to sign him to a new deal and give him his lightweight championship back.

They've even booked him for a fight.

McKee will defend his title at MFC 31 on Oct. 14 against Brian Cobb live on HDNet. A location for the event is still unknown at this time, however.

Here's what Mark Pavelich, owner of the Canadian promotion, had to say in a statement (via Sherdog):

"Antonio is back, but he's walking right into the fire against Brian Cobb. He talked his way into this, and now he's going to have to back it up. Antonio needs to show that he still has a burning desire to compete. That's been called into question by many people. That's why for a time he was no longer considered our champion, because there was this doubt that he was still interested in competing. Now he has the shot to prove everyone wrong."

The circumstances surrounding McKee and his 155-pound strap with MFC have been murky for some time now.

Back in April, it was announced by MFC that Drew Fickett and Hermes Franca would fight for the vacant lightweight title. The problem?

No one told McKee he vacated the belt. 

Apparently, it was just a big misunderstanding, as the longtime veteran's management had agreed to vacate the belt without consulting with him.

No harm, no foul, though, as Fickett and Franca never did square off and Fickett would go on to lose to Cobb at the MFC 30: "Up Close and Personal" event back on June 10.

That's the same Cobb who has signed on to fight McKee in his return to the promotion.

"The Bandit" has just one victory with MFC but it came against the de facto number one division contender. He's also won 13 of his last 15 bouts, including four in a row.

Sold.

McKee was last in action in January, when he was ridden into the ground by Jacob Volkmann in his one and only UFC appearance.

The loss marked his first since Feb. 2003 and just his fourth overall. The 41-year-old feels it was simply a bump in the road and he'll get the chance to prove that on Oct. 14. Will he?

Stay tuned.